Ukraine retains EURO 2012

Kiev was today confirmed as the host city for the final of the 2012 UEFA European Championship (EURO 2012).

Donetsk, Lviv, and Kharkiv were also confirmed as Ukrainian host cities.

The announcement was made at a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in Funchal, Madeira.

UEFA have previously issued warnings on Ukraine’s ability to host matches and made threats to relocate some or all of the matches to co-hosts Poland.

Concerns were raised about the suitability and number of hotels, and the state of roads and railways.

UEFA President Michel Platini said ‘In September, we had to reserve our opinion on three of the four candidate cities in Ukraine – considerable progress needed to be made. I can say to you that today, thanks to the enormous efforts and great sacrifices undertaken by the Ukrainian government, we can finally give the green light to a symmetrical tournament with four cities in Poland – Warsaw, Wroclaw, Poznan and Gdansk – and four cities in Ukraine – Kiev, Lviv, Kharkiv and Donetsk. The final will take place in Kiev.’

Tags: Euro 2012, Olympic Stadium, UEFA